Live the Life
by StarBubblez
Summary: Bella wants a change and is determined to make it happen. Love, life and the desire to go after what you want. Rated M for a reason. AU


**A/N:** I tend to try and keep these short so hi and welcome to the story. I am notorious for being pretty darn slack with my updates. I try really I do but with school, work and family yeah I don't have a lot of time. I hope this is enjoyable, struggling for a unique concept in what is a very large sea of twilight fanfic. This may not be completely unique but it's been running around in my head for about a week so it's time to get it out.

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Live the Life

Chapter 1 – Fate's Hand

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I slumped back against the chair and stared at the paper in front of me. That was it, high school was finished. One small exam booklet drew the better part of 5 years to a close, I smiled to myself. I was done...DONE, no more late night cramming at my desk, or 'The zone of Destruction' as I had affectionately come to call it over the last two months, the small table was a heaving mass of books and paper lit by the dodgy old desk lamp my Father gave me. No more frantic page turning to locate a last minute fact before an exam, no more falling asleep at 7pm due to sheer exhaustion. I was finished I was no longer Isabella Swan high school student, I was now or soon would be, Isabella Swan, college student. I had been looking forward to this day for months and yet I couldn't really express my happiness. The kind of exuberant yell I was dying to let out would have been frowned upon in an exam room, instead I sat quietly staring out the window to pass the time. It was raining, no surprises there really, it always rained in Forks. Most of the other students were still frantically writing, looks of intense concentration or confusion clouding there faces. A few looked pleased, the majority looked relieved and there was a small number that looked plain pissed off.

I couldn't help but remember when I first moved to Forks, it was raining that day aswell and I had looked at Charlie like he was mad when he handed me a thick waterproof jacket in a horribly violent shade of pink. He had just smiled and told me I would understand in a week. But being the stubborn girl I am though I had "forgotten" to take my jacket with me on my first day of school. School that day had been a nightmare, everyone had stared and pointed as I made my way through the halls. The school itself had been ok, it was small, red bricked and quaint. It's unfenced grounds had given the impression of freedom. But whenever I walked out of a room I would hear whispered conversations start up. You would think I was some kind of exotic alien the way they were all carrying on. I had rushed out of my last class with a sense of relief and after handing in my signed attendance slip to the overly cheery woman whose breasts were trying to escape the confines of her purple top I had made my dash for freedom. Only to get pissed on, well not literally but the effect was the same. The rain had started as a light drizzle 5 minutes into my 20 minute walk home. Plenty of time to get home and still be relatively dry, I had thought. But this was Forks and the rain didn't seem to understand my lack of protective clothing as it started to pelt down heavily against the pavement and me. By the time I walked in through the front door 18 minutes later I was soaked, cold and shivering. Charlie had looked up from the kitchen table as I walked in and his mouth gaped as he took in the sight of me.

"What the hell happened to you Bells?"

"Uh, I got caught in the rain", I would have thought it was obvious.

"I can see that, where's your coat, I told you to keep it on you at all times".

"Well it's...err a little pink for me, so I left it at home".

"You could catch pneumonia, do you understand that? You could get sick, you could die, you..."

"Woah, slow down Dad I get the picture, I was stupid ok but really that coats not my style. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, trust me I really am but if it's ok I'm going to jump in a hot shower before I freeze to death", with that said I tore from the room. I was freezing and shivering as I peeled off wet layer after wet layer. Jumping into the shower had been wonderful so wonderful in fact I think I actually moaned in pleasure. As I snuggled down sometime later securely ensconced in the the covers I felt content that the worst was behind me. It was also a refreshing change to be taken care of, Charlie had seemed genuinely worried about me, I usually played the parental figure to my 35 year old Mother, Renee. Maybe Forks wasn't all that bad.

Then again maybe it was I had woken the next morning and it would seem Charlie was right I got sick, really sick with the worst cold I had had since, well probably ever. My skin burned, as did my throat, I had a hacking cough that would keep me awake and my whole body ached. This was how I passed my first week in Forks a shivering snot congested mess. I wasn't surprised to see that on Sunday night before I started week 2 of school there was a new black waterproof slung over my desk chair with a post it sporting giant red letters simply saying 'WEAR IT'. Aww Charlie, what a guy.

"Times up!", the loud words of Ms Finchley brought my reminiscing to an end. Around me people were shuffling papers together, grabbing bags and generally bemoaning the difficulty of the exam and excitedly chattering about their plans for the following year or just how drunk they were going to get at the big end of year party tonight. I was looking forward to the party I was in desperate need of some R&R and could use the time to work on my keg stands. I had already figured I needed at least one party trick in my arsenal if I was going to fully enjoy the college experience, namely getting very drunk, dancing wildly to bad music whilst not quite keeping to the beat and making out with as many hot guys I could locate, well maybe not the last one but definitely the first two. Yes, college a right of passage for today's youth. More like a drunken melting pot of hormones, whatever I was going to have fun, I was determined to have fun.

There was only one problem to my master plan I hadn't decided on a college. I had applied to countless places each one more ambitious than the last but hey I wanted to have a choice. I knew where I didn't want to go and that was anywhere near Forks. Really nowhere in WA at all was preferable. Thankfully money wasn't a restriction on my college of choice. Mum's new husband Phil had kindly offered to pay my tuition. They could afford it now that Phil had broken into the majors after years of playing in the minor leagues. I was still slightly uncomfortable with being gifted so much money though, so I had negotiated that it would be a loan that I would pay back when I graduated and started working. I would also pay 10% of my tuition costs myself so I didn't feel like a total free loader. Mum and Phil hadn't been thrilled with my outright rejection of their offer. Seriously their hearts were in the right place but I didn't want to have my choices of schools and majors entirely dictated by them, the alternative arrangement still allowed me full control of the choices with only a few general suggestions thrown my way.

I busted my arse to make every single application outstanding, I wasn't lacking in the academic realms but my extracurricular activities list was painfully short. If anything was going to hamper my efforts it would be that. When the letters started arriving that's when I got nervous. What if I didn't get accepted anywhere, what if the only acceptance letter I had was for a university in WA. I wouldn't mind but I wanted free of this town, the people, the gossip, dear god for a town with a population of just over 3000 people I couldn't believe the amount of gossip circulating. I think my favourite had been that Ms Cope, the school receptionist was seen in a compromising position with the coach's assistant on the principals desk. I mean it was ridiculous and visually disturbing, yet it had done the rounds for over a month, each version becoming more and more obscene. I wanted to start living my life the way I wanted to and not the way that was expected and it would never been possible in Forks. Every day for a week letters arrived and everyday I put them in a box. I had decided I would open them all together and not prolong the agony.

I refused the urge to hold the envelopes up to the light to see if I could make out any of the words, I also refused to sit there weighing them in my hands to try and determine which ones were 'Yes your in' and which ones had a big 'fuck off' in them. It had been three days since the last letter arrived and Charlie was getting pissed. He didn't understand why I was so nervous, then again he had no idea which Universities I had applied for. I had all but shredded him when I caught him in my room this morning trying to discretely peer into the box. I really couldn't put it off much longer though I would need to send my acceptance back soon and that wasn't going to happen unless I manned up, well sucked it up anyway and opened the damn things. Thankfully I had driven today it was still raining lightly as I pulled into the drive and made my way up the front steps. Charlie was as usual sprawled out on the sofa watching football. He had been on leave for 5 days now and I swear he hardly moved from his position accept to eat, shit and snoop.

"I'm going upstairs, I have some things to do, please don't interrupt me", all I heard was a muffled grunt as I made my way upstairs. Hmm I guess that could be an ok, just to ensure my privacy I locked my bedroom door and changed into something more comfy. It was only 11am the party didn't start until 8pm so I had plenty of time to make a decision, cook dinner, eat and get ready for the night ahead. I threw myself across my bad and peered under my bed. There it was mocking me, a giant box of dreams or nightmares dependant upon the contents. I felt like I was 5 looking for the bogeyman under my bed. I reached under my bed and pulled the box up and placed it beside me. With shaking hands I lifted the lid and looked at the crisp envelopes inside, I had sent out 15 applications and I had 15 letters of reply to open. I reached for the first envelope and tore it open scanning down the front page...IN, the University of Washington. I let out a breath I wasn't even aware I was holding. I started to tear through the other envelopes feeling my eyes widen as I took in the words from each letter...IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN. I was gobsmacked I had got in everywhere! absolutely everywhere I applied for had offered me a place. Fucking hell I was going to college, now I just had to decide which one.

I was trying to calm down and think about it logically, which ones where the most expensive, which ones would have the best teachers, accommodation, transport, part time job opportunities, facilities etc etc. It was all racing through my head but all I could think was 'Shit shit shit'. I had no idea where I wanted to go and I never thought I would have the choice of all of them. After 3 hours of debate and extensive google research I had a short list of 5:

UCLA

NYU

University of Chicago

Columbia University

Stanford University

They weren't listed in any type of order, I didn't really have a preference. They were all in big cities they all offered excellent facilities, majors and accommodation prospects. I seemed to be having a bit of a west coast, east coast debate in regards to weather mostly. UCLA and Stanford were both reasonably close to WA if I wanted to visit Charlie at any point or vice versa. I ruled out Chicago simply due to location. Silly as it sounds I had kind decided on New York or California in the last 3 hours at least I was making some progress. After a further 3 hours I had it down to UCLA or Columbia. I couldn't decide, I had analysed, pondered, debated, for fucks sake I had even meditated on it and I was still no closer to making a decision.

So I did what any sane person would do. I quickly scrawled the name of the two schools on separate scraps of paper before I scrunched them up tightly and threw them into a small bag. Just to make sure I wasn't cheating I blindfolded myself and started spinning on the chair, note to self being blindfolded and spinning makes you nauseous very nauseous. Attempting to push my stomach contents back down my throat I stuck my hand in and pulled out a small scrunched piece of paper. This is it, oh shit this is really it, I'm about to decide on a college, well I'm about to let fate decide on a college anyway, _Gee Isabella you really are a chicken shit_, my brain mocked, shut up brain! I thought back. With shaking hands I removed the blindfold and stared down at the little piece of paper. I can't believe that this is the moment my life changes, How weird is it really that my whole future rests on a scrap of paper. I closed my eyes and unfurled the paper and with one final deep breath I looked down.

COLUMBIA

Well fuck me it looks like I'm going to Columbia University. I sent a silent appeal to the universe asking fate to look kindly upon me.

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**A/N: **So there you have it folks! The first chapter, short...yes, good...hopefully, if not good hopefully decent. If you read please leave a REVIEW.

I also want to ask all of the US readers to ignore my blatant lack of knowledge when it comes to the US educational system.


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